Apostolic “succession” depends on having the apostolic faith which episcopal types completely lack. Your apostles are james pike, john spong, Stephen bayne, kathryn Schori, Barbara Harris. With that succession you get congregations with 5-10% of a church building occupied on a Sunday. Fewer people training to teach a non faith to elderly people. Episcopalians might ask exactly why do I need clergy in the first place? For about 60 years they have been told that anything they want to believe is ok, anyone they want to sleep with is ok, so why all the rules about who is “allowed” to run a church service, or why there ARE services? In many congregations that question has been answered and they’re 90% empty. With that situation you don’t need more seminaries teaching unitarianism.

This doesn’t say much about congregations with 5-10% occupancy in a building. The overall problem is something King Charles stated loud and clear before he was crowned. He had to declare that he would abide by the Anglican Settlement. In a nutshell, be vague. It’s been downhill ever since that thing was invented. Your church is a settlement which is a moving target. What faith there is has a half life like any man made element.

Getting down with our bad selves :)😄

I like what you are doing here.

Thanks Bishop?

Episco-Disco. Gotta hand it to ya, bold initiative!

Addressing the separation of church and state, in these United States, can only properly begin with a reading of the actual black-letter text of the US Constitution, and a rumination on those words. And while we're delving, add in the Declaration, and Ths. Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists. "Loving" the individual is one thing, and taxing the productive individual to provision the useless wastrel is another. Episcopalians are supposed to be the smart ones, with more degrees than a thermometer. Inability to embrace the icky truth casts doubt on the proclaimed wisdom!!!!!

I don't get the half-and-half vibe from this denomination. Mostly Dems, government folks in the pews. Plumbers? Electricians? Masons? Carpenters? As a hobby, if we're lucky.

Unless the American Episcopal Church is teaching English, PROPER ENGLISH, with an activist's zeal, coupled with a desire to present Western Civilization in a true and positive light, all efforts are in vain. Building up a body of other-language-skilled people, devoted to BIBLICAL Christian teaching and living, THAT'S the goal. Anything less is vanity.

Love it!

Hello from the Diocese of AZ. Great idea.

Left the Episcopal Church and converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.

I really like where this series seems to be headed. If my life belongs to Christ, then nothing I have belongs to me.

In creation fractals relate to energetic and consciousness, when this energy assums form it becomes a hollogram which is an accurate representation of creation of form being drawn back into energy of LOVE the singular CAUSE

Woke

Funny how you omit Coyote tales, where Coyote cajoles Horned Lizard (HL) out of corn that HL had labored to grow, and so greedily ate that HL was consumed, whereupon HL inflated herself to stab Coyote to death from within. The modern-day masters are the recipient class, for whom the 1st and 15th of every month is either birthday or Christmas. The modern-day slaves are the Real Working People (RWP) of every race, color, and creed (plumbers, welders, mechanics, and electricians) that Highly Educated Useless People (HEUP's) look down on. If you want to be a Great Emancipator, kick the willfully lazy and stupid to the curb, especially now. A cold night can focus a mind to the light of Christ and G_d like nothing else. #atlasshrugged

Finding common ground amongst Celtic converts to Christianity, and Early American inhabitants? That could be an interesting comparison.

The truly troubling trend is the message of the gospel and the faith delivered once to all the saints has been abandoned.

Was with Diocese of New West in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada since 1982 but we had the 2002 split over blessing same sex unions; furthermore, Primate with then secretary became Bishop Michael Ingham developed rite for blessing same sex unions. But only some were given licenses to do so. Kept there till 2020 was just too much for me to see and endure more people getting madder and madder. Dad's family were French Huguenots joined the The Church Of England on Jersey Island in 1740 & again in 1753 to Anglican Church in Nova Scotia. The roots go back deep wanted to stay was hard to leave but did. Hope for the best, time will tell?

I am no theologian, no clergy just a plain lay man trying to be a disciple of Christ. I know that we need a shepherd as bishop, a man/woman near its people, teaching, bringing the sacramental presence of Christ. We don’t need princes or lords living in palaces. Bishop Michael you are so right. Thank you and greetings from Montreal.

Hey Canon Lee+ One of my favorite quotes from St. Francis is, " I fear I will die a retched death because I have not used all the gifts God gave me to build up His kingdom" May your gifts be utilized!

It would help if TEC didn’t pull bishops away from their dioceses as much as currently happens. Between House of Bishops’ meetings, and various churchwide committee meetings, bishops are always away. I also think the bicameral approach to general convention should go away. Bishops should sit with and work with their delegations.

"The question to ask is not, 'Is the system sustainable on its own,' but rather 'Do we have sufficient relationships to sustain the mission of God in this place?'" Brilliant.

Ohioans in Springfield have had voodoo adherents laying waste to an otherwise livable region. Just for an update!!

What are your thoughts on the Reconquista, which is a movement of young people seeking to return mainline Protestant churches (such as the Episcopal Church) back to their historical, Biblical, and conservative theological roots? Would you support such a movement? Do you think your fellow Episcopal priests and bishops would support this movement?

Michael, this is precisely the sort of vision I endeavored to cast in my decade as Bishop of Springfield. I loved serving a small diocese, where I could walk into a church and greet people by name and ask about their families--because I knew them. But I found that creating a sense of belonging to the diocese and not only the local congregation was more challenging than I anticipated.

1:50 it's like "every man for himself"

God knows, you guys need to protect your pensions.

I am a Bishop in the Old Catholic Communion. We strive to live out Old Catholicism in our own context in the USA. We take courses in Utrecht and study Old Catholic ecclesiology and theology. What you are describing as your vision IS precisely the vision outlined in Old Catholicism. They recommend that there be no suffragan or assisting bishops. Dioceses should be small enough that the people can know and authentically choose their bishop. The bishop is to call forth people's gifts for use. That is not easy to do if the Bishop doesn't really know the people. To make smaller dioceses, it would mean the economics of the diocese would have to change. Maybe the diocesan officials would have to be bi-vocational. The Lutheran Synod in our area is struggling to find Lutheran pastors. They are having to use supply pastors from DOC, UCC, Methodist, Episcopal, etc. In the Episcopal Diocese, they are having to use diocesan trained self-sustained clergy. All of our OCC clergy and bishops are bi-vocational or self-sustainging. Otherwise our parishes would not exist.

I have to laugh. I recall a bishop, now deceased, who at the 75th year celebration of the founding of the diocese, rather than being out at the convention center talking among the people, was upstairs hosting a cocktail party for the priests of the diocese before Mass. Bad timing in my book.

Your Grace, you hit on an important point when you suggested that the Church has borrowed governing practices from the secular state. But I’d go further by saying that the Episcopal Church (and other mainline churches) are suffering financially because they have also adopted modernist and humanistic philosophies as their theology. Yes, I’m talking about “woke” issues such as diverse gender ideologies and abortion and contraception as their theology, which the Church from antiquity has taught were heretical. So when the Church adopts a new theology that mirrors the philosophies of the modern world rather than teaching the unchanging Truth, people are left asking, “Why should I be part of it? It’s not teaching me anything different than the world is teaching.” And when people thus find their Church irrelevant, the they leave. And when they leave, they take their money with them. I’m one of those former Episcopalians who left in 2010 for the theological reasons I described.

When money decides there's not much room for grace and love. Top to bottom the church needs this conversation. Thank you for your vision.

God was never called her into the priesthood because it’s an impossibility. She’s larping

The liberal mainline Episcopal Church is dead.

Anglicans need to get out and evangelize. That’s the problem. We have the same problem in Canada. We need to grow our church’s.

Thank you for offering this conversation! I have observed much the same and you have said it far more generously than I!

The relational bishop that you describe is exactly the kind of bishop +Sean Rowe is and has been in his ministry. My prayers that we can allow him to continue to live that out in his role as presiding bishop.

This conversation is sorely needed as is how we lift up the laity to take a greater leadership role in the church. Your question, "what is a bishop for?" should also be coupled with the question, "what is the church for?" because we have lost the meaning of church and that is why so many people, particularly the younger people, have no need for an institution that lives to perpetuate itself. (Gayle Fisher-Stewart, Diocese of Washington)

Lots of good points here. I will be thinking about and chewing on this for a long while.

Bishop Michael I like this.

Frankly I don’t know why Protestants like y’all bother with these “bishops.” Other than consumes, I can’t figure what an Episky bishop does.

As a priest in the sin to be diocese of the Great Lakes, i especially value your observations as we look to create our profile and being the process of seeking a bishop. As a priest in the current diocese of Eastern Michigan I find it distressing that I/We haven’t had a bishop diocesan since 2017. Thanks again for your observations. I’m going to pass them on and around. Blessings to you.

Glad you are posting this timely topic. May it generate the thoughtful discussion you encourage.

Good words Michael! Not a new situation. but one that will become more compelling the longer we wait for those conversations. Thank you!

Hi Brother Hunn I Also enjoy your video s it's great to see your updates. You bring up great Questions And I ponder on some of them. Thank you for All you Do for your Diocese.

Bishop Michael, I always enjoy your videos, but this one is particularly good, spot on. It really resonated with me and challenged me with thoughtful questions.

Great video! Prayers for all who are affected by this disaster!

Brilliance at the basics; the basics are brilliant! 🙏🏻

We need to make a pilgrimage to come and visit you

So good to hear from you, Katie!